Mort Walker, creator behind 'Beetle Bailey' comic strips dies at 94

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Mort Walker

Mort Walker, the creator of the long-running cartoon Beetle Bailey, has died. Greg Walker, his son said his father had drawn the cartoon of a work-shy army private for 68 years and "he was drawing up to the end". At its peak, the Beetle Bailey ran in 1,800 newspapers around the world and reached 200 million readers. It began in 1950 with Beetle as a college student, but he was soon enlisted in the armed forces.

It included characters such as Sgt Snorkle and Gen Halftrack, who existed in the fictional Camp Swampy. The setting was inspired by Mr Walker's experience in the US Army during World War Two.

About Mort Walker:

Walker was born Addison Morton Walker on September 3, 1923 in El Dorado, Kansas, the third of four children in his family. His father was an architect and his mother was a newspaper illustrator. His family moved around a bit before settling in Kansas City, Missouri. Walker followed in his mother’s footsteps from an early age, drawing for his elementary school newspaper and editing his high school paper. He also began his professional career while still a child, selling cartoons and comics to magazines while in his early teens and becoming the chief editor for Hallmark greeting cards at the tender age of 18. Walker attended Kansas City Junior College for a year and was drafted into the Army in 1943.